Ohio State senior midfielder Bryce Pfundstein (34) brings the ball up during the Ohio State-Louisville game on Tuesday in Columbus. Ohio State won 16-6. Credit: Caleb Blake | For The Lantern
Five different Ohio State players scored the first five goals of the game, and freshman midfielder Casey Roberts and sophomore midfielder Annie Hargraves contributed hat tricks, as the Buckeyes beat Louisville Tuesday 16-6 to end a five-game losing skid.
Coach Amy Bokker said scoring early and often was a major morale boost for the Buckeyes (5-7, 0-2 Big Ten).
“That sort of team effort gives confidence to the whole team knowing that anyone can put the ball in the back of the net,” Bokker said. “I think that pumps up [the team] all together, so I love the team effort and am really proud of that.”
Ohio State’s strong start was countered with back-to-back goals from junior attacker Kylea Dobson and senior attacker Allegra Catalano for the Cardinals (4-7, 1-4 ACC) resulting in a 5-2 first-quarter score.
The teams traded goals in the second quarter before Ohio State broke the game open in the third, getting two goals from Roberts and ending the quarter with a 14-5 score. Graduate attacker Hannah Morris scored the lone Cardinals goal.
Senior attacker and captain Nicole Ferrara and Hargraves completed the scoring in the fourth quarter.
Junior attacker Jamie Lasda leads the Buckeyes with 23 assists and 18 goals on the season.
“Being that threat, initially draws defenders to me, and then I have great teammates that are dodging, cutting, and freeing themselves up,” Lasda said. “I’m able to keep my head up and hit them knowing that they’ll finish, so I feel confident feeding it in.”
Ohio State’s effort showed improvement from its last game, when it lost 13-3 to Penn State.
Bokker said the team prepared throughout practice this past week by going back through the basics of its offense to make sure they could come out scoring immediately.
“We just talked about a theme of winning your matchup, and if you can win your matchup, that gives you the opportunity to have a lane to the goal or free up your teammate,” Bokker said. “They did a great job of that.”
Bokker said the win showed the team it is capable of winning as they look ahead towards the end of the season.
“We’re trying to find a little bit of rhythm in our offensive end and working together on a defensive end, Bokker said. “We knew no one player was going to do it alone. It takes the strength of the team, so I just hope that it gives them confidence.”
Ohio State will next travel to Milwaukee to face Marquette Tuesday at 1 p.m. for its last non-conference opponent. The game will be broadcasted on FloSports.
